NEW: Pioneer S-DJ X series — Monitors for DJs

In a world where DJs are becoming producers, and the bedroom is becoming the studio, there is an increasing need for products that tick a diverse range of boxes, and at an affordable price too. DJs are also becoming increasingly aware that to fully appreciate what they’re playing, plugging your gear into your mum and dad’s old hi-fi just isn’t going to cut it anymore. But at the same time, stumping up the kind of cash necessary to keep golden-eared sound engineers happy isn’t a practical option either. Enter the new Pioneer S-DJ X monitors — pro sound at a wallet friendly price.

8th August 2013: Pioneer DJ releases the S-DJ X series of active monitor speakers designed with dance music in mind. The S-DJ X models are loaded with high-quality speaker technology from Pioneer and pro audio sub-brand TADi to deliver accurate monitoring, a strong bass, and clear mid to high frequencies.

The robust S-DJ X series is optimised to produce a rich bass and a tight, punchy kick even at high volumes. The 5-inch, 6-inch or 8-inch woofers are crafted from stiff aramid fibre, and mounted directly on thick baffles, to produce a robust base with no unwanted resonance; while the highly rigid bass reflex ducts feature grooves to reduce resistance.

Drawing on Pioneer’s heritage in speaker production, the S-DJ X series boasts 1-inch soft dome tweeters that use DECOii convex diffusers from TAD to deliver a wide sweet spot. And newly designed Class AB bi-amplifiers in the tweeter and woofer units ensure a well-balanced response with no loss of clarity.

With a range of inputs, volume control, high frequency adjustment and auto standby with Auto ON, the S-DJ X series is perfect for home DJing as well as producing.

The S-DJ X series line-up comprises the 6-inch and 8-inch in classic black, and the 5-inch in classic black or cool white; so DJs have a choice of sizes and designs to meet their environment and budget.

The S-DJ X series is available from the end of September 2013 at an SRP of:

Tweeters use convex diffusers from TAD to deliver panoramic high frequency sound
The 1-inch soft dome tweeters are fitted with convex diffusers that use DECO technology from TAD Labs’ iconic TAD Pro TSM-2201-LR monitor speakers, which are found in professional studios across the world. The diffusers improve the directivity of high frequencies – channelling left, right and up – to ensure a wide sweet spot and 3D stereo sound.

Aramid fibre woofers and front-loaded bass reflex system ensure rich, powerful bass
The S-DJ X series was designed to deliver a robust bass and tight, punchy kick at any volume. The speakers output bass from the front rather than the back, while the highly rigid bass ducts feature grooves to reduce air friction and give a smooth, powerful sound. Woofers are crafted with aramid fibres and large aperture magnets, and directly mounted onto thick MDF baffles, to provide excellent damping and reduce unnecessary resonance.iii

Custom-designed Class AB bi-amps ensure balance needed for accurate monitoring
The S-DJ X series delivers a well-balanced response across all frequencies thanks to newly designed Class AB bi-amplifiers for the woofer and tweeter units, which ensure perfect clarity with low-distortion and no loss of quality.

Auto stand-by with Auto ON eliminates the need to fiddle with the back of the speaker
The speakers switch to stand-by if there is no input detected for 25 minutes, and power up again when input resumes. So there’s no need to reach for the back of the speaker to find the ON/OFF switch.

Packed with features for hassle-free set up and everyday use
Designed with the DJ’s convenience in mind, the new monitors come with a variety of flexible features:

Range of inputs: DJs can choose between balanced XLR and TRS phone, and unbalanced RCA.

Powerillumination: an arc-shaped power light shows when the speaker is on.

MAINSPECIFICATIONS

S-DJ50X/S-DJ50X-W

S-DJ60X

S-DJ80X

Format

Bi-amp 2-way bass reflex activemonitor speaker

Bi-amp 2-way bass reflex activemonitor speaker

Bi-amp 2-way bass reflex activemonitor speaker

Tweeter

1-inch soft dome tweeter

1-inch soft dome tweeter

1-inch soft dome tweeter

Woofer

5-inch aramid fibrewoofer

6-inch aramid fibrewoofer

8-inch aramid fibrewoofer

Frequencyresponse

50 Hz～20 kHz

45 Hz～20 kHz

40 Hz～20 kHz

MaximumSPL

107 dB

113 dB

115 dB

Amplifieroutput(ratedoutput)

Class AB bi-amp 80 W LF：54 W (30 W) HF：26 W (15 W)

Class AB bi-amp125 WLF：90 W (50 W) HF：35 W (20 W)

Class AB bi-amp 160 W LF：125 W (70 W) HF：35 W (20 W)

Input ports

Balanced inputs

XLR x 1TRS (1/4 inch jack) x 1

XLR x 1TRS（1/4 inch jack)x 1

XLR x 1TRS（1/4 inch jack） x1

Unbalancedinputs

RCA x 1

RCA x 1

RCA x 1

Inputimpedance

10 kΩ

10 kΩ

10 kΩ

Levelcontrol

-∞ dB ～ +6 dB

-∞ dB ～ +6 dB

-∞ dB ～ +6 dB

HFleveladjust

-2 dB/-1 dB/0 dB/+1 dB

-2 dB/-1 dB/0 dB/+1dB

-2 dB/-1 dB/0 dB/+1 dB

Powerconsumption

100 W

140 W

160 W

Maximumexternal dimensions（ WxHxD）

197 x 301 x 262 mm

228 x 342 x 295 mm

276 x 401 x 315 mm

Unitweight

6.5 kg

8.5 kg

11.8 kg

Accessories Included

Power cord
User Manual

Power cord
User Manual

Power cord
User Manual

i Technical Audio Devices Laboratories (TAD Labs) is a Pioneer sub-brand preferred by professional studios since 1978ii Diffusion Effectual Convexity by Olson (DECO) is a TAD proprietary technology for improved directionalityiii Maximum thickness of inner baffles is 30 mm for the S-DJ50X/S-DJ60X and 33 mm for the S-DJ80X

And thus Pioneer’s push into pro audio continues with a more affordable and very DJ focussed set of active monitors to supplement the existing S-DJ range, which for a lot of DJs were just too expensive to sit alongside their controllers.

There are obvious design cues from other monitors on the market — the shape of KRK Rokits, the while cone of Yamaha HS series, but it’s all been dropped into the blender and given a definite Pioneer feel to it. The remote hasn’t made it through from the more expensive S-DJ 5 and 8, but they do have the very useful auto power on and off, something that I’m sure many will welcome. I’m always leaving mine on at home and in the worxlab.

The focus of them being “monitors for DJs” is interesting and for some a real oxymoron. The video seems to be almost entirely about performance, which to me means that the S-DJ X range is going to be more loudspeaker than studio monitor, thus perfectly bridging the gap between performance and production. Headphones are expected to tick many boxes these days, and I suspect that this range is squarely aimed at those who wish to take that step up in sound quality but cannot afford nor need the more stringent demands of full-on studio production.

I can almost hear the impending avalanche of phrases like “coloured sound” being hammered into comments from the more audiophile types out there. But these aren’t meant for that level of user, and will doubtlessly shift by the container load to thousands of DJs who will be utterly delighted with the performance.

More for the group test

The release couldn’t come at a better time for us, as it now means we have more monitors to put in our upcoming entry level group test, which is pitched at exactly the market that Pioneer seem to be aiming the S-DJ X range at. We’ve already been promised some to include, so we’ll be able to see how they stack up against a similarly priced range. We’ll certainly be checking to see if they’re good enough to fill a space with sound (something that monitors are traditionally poor at) and provide uncoloured near-field audio necessary for production.

To recap: the S-DJ X range comes in 5″, 6″, and 8″ models. The range comes in black and for the 5″ white as well, and sold individually for $179/€149/£129, $239/$199/£169, and $299/€249/£199 respectively,and will be available mid-September. Expect the BPM Show 2013 stand to be covered in them. More info on the Pioneer DJ site.

I seen a post on Pioneer’s FB page on these this morning and was shuddering at the price points but now that I seen them I am pleased. I can use some new monitors.

http://www.mobiledjforums.com/ GroovinDJ

Why only one size in white? Perhaps they’re holding back on white for a “limited special edition” of the larger ones…

Lewis

I imagine these will sound very similar to KRK’s Rokit powered range. Very similar construction and components from the pictures/specification. Price is almost identical as well. With that in mind I imagine they will be great for DJ’s (as my KRK’s are) and good casual music production.

Lewis

and good for casual music production*

Joseph Moore

These look great, I’ll probably pick up a pair for the studio next month.

So Mark …. do we have an ETA on the monitor group test? It was nearly a year ago you first mentioned it ….

http://djworx.com/ Mark Settle

A lot was happing a year ago.

I’ve got a studio full of monitors with more to come. Testing proper starts in the next couple of weeks, with the results most probably coming September. We have a lot on right now. It’ll be well worth the wait though.